A viewer wants to know why some high risk people can't get the H1N1 vaccine.
A northern Michigan mother is speaking out. The government says her kids are at high risk for the H1N1 virus, but she feels they're a low priority for the Grand Traverse Health Department.
That's the subject of tonight's Fact Finder Report.
Like many parents, Wendy Brosier and her husband's top priority is the safety of their two young daughters.
Wendy says, "As a mom I don't want my kids to get sick, and as a mom of an 8 month old with asthma I certainly don't want her to contract something where there could be dire consequences."
According to the Center's for Disease Control, because the girls are younger than age 5 and the 8 month old has asthma, the CDC considers them at high risk for developing complications from the H1N1 flu.
Wendy says, "Ok, our kids fall into the category, we've done our homework, we know its available to those in that category as far as the CDC is concerned. Alright, let's go get it. But then we started to hit wall after wall after wall."
Her doctor's office didn't have the vaccine, and like many people, she didn't learn about the Grand Traverse County Health Department's only community clinic until it was too late. The health department announced that Sunday clinic late Friday.
Wendy says, "It’s maddening, it's absolutely maddening."
And news of the county's plan to hold vaccine clinics for school kids, only added to her concerns. Because while the CDC does consider kids this age a priority for the H1N1 vaccine, it does not consider them high risk for complications from the flu.
Wendy says, "I know how frustrating it is seeing our other friends kids come home 12, 13, 14 years old, completely health with no underlying chronic conditions and they've got the little band aid on their arm and it just feels like a slap in the face."
Wendy says, "It’s really frustrating. It's frustrating because the guidelines are there and it seems like there's a blind eye being turned to them."
I took her concerns to the Grand Traverse Health Department. The director says it comes down to two factors.
Director Fred Keeslar says, "It was the rate the vaccine was coming in and the type of vaccine we got."
He says the flu mist vaccine they were getting isn't indicated for high risk young people so that limited who could get the vaccine. And he says they were promised four times as much vaccine by mid October then they got for the entire month.
He says they've had to adjust their distribution plan. And admits that may have limited vaccine availability for some people considered high risk.
Keeslar says, "It’s very tough to make everything fair. From a public health viewpoint we try to get as many people vaccinated as possibly, particularly in that age group where flu tends to spread very quickly for example elementary schools where children's hygiene isn't the best then that will slow the spread to everyone."
But for Wendy, "it's not about me, it's not about my kids, it's about anybody who’s in the high risk group who doesn't have access."
According to the CDC, the high risk group includes children younger than age 5, pregnant women, adults over age 65 and those with certain medical conditions.
Since I've been talking to the Health Department about Wendy's concerns, they've announced another community clinic for next week at the Civic Center. It was by appointment only and is already full.
But Keeslar says they are actually getting away from those kinds of clinics because he says they're too expensive and instead focusing on giving more vaccine to doctor's offices.
He says that should start late next week.
So what do you think about this? What have your experiences been trying to get the H1N1 vaccine?
Leave your comments below.
